Australia rode on a brilliant innings from Steve Smith on Wednesday to edge ahead on the first day of the second Ashes Test against England at Lord's. The visitors reached 339 for 5 in 83 overs by stumps with Smith batting on 85 and Alex Carey on 11.
This happened after England won the toss and elected to bowl first at the Home of Cricket.
Apart from Smith, excellent batting from Travis Head (77) and David Warner (66) also helped the Aussies take the honours on the first day which started off on a controversial note as Just Stop Oil activist group interrupted play after the first over in London.
Three protesters entered the field of play with orange powder paint, but were overpowered by security officials and Jonny Bairstow, who picked up one of the streakers and dropped him off the field.
Steve Smith enters elite Test club
Smith, in the middle of his 38th Test fifty, completed 9000 runs in Test cricket to become the fastest batter to achieve the feat in terms of number of matches. Brian Lara achieved the feat in 101 Tests while Smith got to the landmark in his 99th match for the Aussies.
In terms of the number of innings, Smith is the second fastest behind Sri Lanka great Kumar Sangakkara. Smith is playing his 174th innings while Sanga completed 9,000 Test runs in 172 innings.
Smith's love affair with Lord's continues
He also equalled a record of four consecutive half-centuries at Lord's, a feat which only three batters have managed in the past.
Former England batter Frank Woolley (1921-1926), ex-Aussie player Warren Bardsley (1912-1926) and former Enland captain Nasser Hussain (2001-2002) achieved the feat before Smith (2015-2023).
Australia in strong position
Smith was part of two century-run stands with Marnus Labuschagne (47) and Head, with whom he added 102 and 118 respectively.
For England, two-Test-old Josh Young got the wickets of Warner and Usman Khawaja (17) while Ollie Robinson sent back Labuschagne. Former skipper Joe Root bagged a couple of wickets as well when he dismissed Head and Cameron Green (0) in quick succession in the final session of play.
